“We stayed patient in that inning,” EHS coach Curran McNeely said. “We finally started laying off some pitches, which we’ve been doing a good job of the past couple weeks.

“And Harper’s hit was huge,” McNeely added. “There’s no one else better for us in that situation. I told him to just have faith. He’s got a good swing. You saw what happened. He lined that pitch hard. That’s just what he does.”

St. Anthony coach Tony Kreke agreed about Harper’s hit.

“That was the biggest hit of the game. It was the difference,” Kreke said. “If we get out of that inning and are only trailing 3-1, that might have built a little momentum for us.

“But you can’t walk that many,” Kreke added. “I think Brock just got speeded up a bit. I think he lost the feel for the ball and started leaving his pitches up. Brock has been pitching very well for us. I would say he’s been our biggest surprise this season.”

Those six runs were more than enough for Effingham’s ace, Josh McDevitt. The hard-throwing senior right-hander, who hit 96 mph with one of his fastballs, went six full innings before reaching his pitch count. He allowed just two hits and one unearned run, while throwing 108 pitches. He walked two and struck out 12.

“I thought Josh pitched okay, but it wasn’t his best performance,” McNeely noted. “I thought their hitters showed very good patience and worked the count. But Josh battled and competed all night.

“I told him to ‘just be you,’” McNeely added. “I’m sure there were some nerves. The atmosphere out here was completely different than a regular game. There were a ton of people here. I just told him to stay calm and go to work.”

The only hits he allowed were a two-out single by Brock Fearday in the first and a base hit by Max Koenig in the second.

The Bulldogs scored their lone run in the fourth. Lauritzen walked to start the inning and Jansen drew a one-out walk. Will Hoene then grounded a ball to Webb at first base. Webb stepped on the bag for the out. He also tried to get the runner going to second, but his throw was high and went into the outfield, allowing Lauritzen to scoot home with the first run of the game.

St. Anthony had just four baserunners over the last five innings – two walks, one hit batter and one reached on an error. Raddatz pitched a 1-2-3 seventh to secure the win.

“Josh is a heckuva pitcher,” Kreke said. “He’s a power pitcher and we knew he’d get his K’s. We wanted to make him work, but we also wanted to stay aggressive. We’ve got good hitters, one through nine, and they know what pitches they’re looking for.”

The Hearts tacked on two more runs in the fifth. Maxedon was hit by a pitch and Raddatz narrowly missed a home run. His blast hit near the top of the left-centerfield fence. His RBI double brought in courtesy runner Colton Loy. Webb then followed with his third hit of the contest, driving in Raddatz.

It was quite the crowd Wednesday night. Some were saying it was one of the largest they’d ever seen at Paul Smith Field.

“Our kids mark the City Series on their calendar every year,” McNeely admitted. “It’s a fun atmosphere for three nights. This Series is a great thing.”

“This atmosphere and excitement is second to none,” Kreke added. “You just don’t get this anywhere else. I love playing in this Series. And it will help prepare us for next week (postseason).”

The Hearts improved to 15-11 on the season, while the Bulldogs dipped to 21-4.

Game #2 is scheduled for 7 p.m. today (Thursday). It will be played at Evergreen Hollow Park.